We're Jewish, and so we have a mezzuzah on our doorpost. I've been told that Mormons know how to spot them, and leave Jews alone. This may be true, because even when I've seen them in the area (like when I'm going to the mailbox), they've never knocked. JWs, and some other Christian denominations do come by, though. I used to just say "I'm not interested" as soon as I saw who they were, and they went right away without a fuss. Since I had the baby, though, I've had a "no missionaries, no solicitors, no knocking unless you're UPS or USPS and must have a signature." This is because when someone knocks, the dogs start barking, and if the baby is sleeping, he wakes up, not to mention that I try to nap when he takes his long midday nap, because I'm so often sleep deprived, and I wake up as well.

I had a friend who worked nights, and had a sign up that said "Day sleeper, do not knock; Exception: UPS." She never had a problem with people knocking, and I lived in the same building, so I know that we used to get people coming by all the time.

So the signs do work.

I'm not sure that even if I had the standing to sue someone, I would. But I probably could make them feel bad by coming to the door in sweats and mussed hair, holding a crying baby.

Just a little note on LDS missionaries: missionaries are usually sent far enough away from their homes so that they are unlikely to see a lot of people they know and thus be distracted from their missionary work. There are currently about 50,000 missionaries in 162 countries.

The last 4 towns I have lived in have an ordinance that door-to-doors have to have a city permit.
If anyone can cite one of the Supreme Court decisions, I'd appreciate it. I'd like to read their reasoning.
It sounds odd to me that a town can stop WalMart from setting up shop, but is forced to allow door-to-door selling.

I don't know about the religious folk around where I work, but my company has a "no soliciting" sign on the front door, two inches above the handle.

Mostly when a salesman comes in, if we're not swamped by people, we let them run their mouths until they ask how many we want, then we ask them if they sell signs. Big signs. When they ask what kind (and it usually doesn't matter what they're selling, they always ask what kind), we tell them a bigger no soliciting sign than the one we point out on the front door.

Now, if we're swamped, we ask them to be patient, we'll be right with them. As soon as the last paying customer leaves, the phones are answered, and all paperwork is done on the customers, we turn and ask them for the sign. Usually it's 1/2 an hour of their time, wasted.

The last 4 towns I have lived in have an ordinance that door-to-doors have to have a city permit.
If anyone can cite one of the Supreme Court decisions, I'd appreciate it. I'd like to read their reasoning.

I already did, on page 1, but here it is again. Link. These decisions, however, apply specifically to door-to-door religious proselytizers.

Quote:

It sounds odd to me that a town can stop WalMart from setting up shop, but is forced to allow door-to-door selling.

Commerce =! speech. The religious proselytizers in question were not selling anything.

In the town where I grew up, the JW's were banned from coming around for a number of years. they'd come around 2-3 times a week. After their ban was up, they must not have learned anything. They came around a LOT less, but they were very, VERY rude. I once was home alone, about the age of 12, saw them coming and went to my room to ignore/avoid them. This woman pounded on our door for 15 minutes, screaming, "Hello! I know you're in there! We know you're home!" Our dogs were going nuts, it was crazy. She finally gave up and moved along. I felt very threated, compalnts were made I guess. Didn't seem them around for quite some time after that.

I have 2 German shepherd mixes that manage to keep JW's and Mormons away because of their barking. That also works for people selling things door to door, but if I see a Scout or other child selling something for Little League, I'll go outside and buy something.

To those who have the "No Soliciting/Solicitors" signs but will allow Girl Scouts-Boy Scouts-local schoolkids on property to solicit, you WILL have trouble getting anyone to help enforce your sign. The commercially-available signs don't make exceptions and the very instant that you do make an exception, you've left yourself vulnerable to all solicitors. Most communities' law enforcement agencies, however, don't have the authority to enforce YOUR "rules" and can only enforce the community's laws and rules. But, it does seem likely that should the authorities step in, they will want to know if your own enforcement is total or if you make exceptions to the policy. (To the poster who noted about how much money could you get from the door-to-door salesman, I think it would be more profitable--not merely in terms of money, but in terms of an individual's right to be left alone--to sue the company for whom the salesman is operating. Most door-to-door salespeople are selling FOR a specific company or organization, or are operating on that company's behalf, so the company might be a better target of the lawsuit.)
About telemarketing, there is a national "do-not-call" program which is supposed to alleviate all telemarketing IF you register. Exceptions were made specifically for non-profit organizations (usually political calls, also groups like the Scouts or local Police benefit groups) and commercial, for-profit organizations with which you do regular business (like banks or credit card companies); with the latter groups, you normally have to contact them to remove yourself from telephone solicitations (and often, if the company has an internet presence, this can be done through the company's website). Supposedly, the "Do Not Call" program is only good for a number of years, after which you have to re-register (I haven't actually encountered this yet so I'm not sure of the validity) but I have had far fewer telemarketers making successful contact. Of course, screening calls through an answering machine or Caller ID reduces the problem even further. Most telemarketing calls don't show an "incoming" number or are blocked in some other way which allows the receiver to simply ignore answering the phone. With the answering machine screening, I've rarely had a call come through; a live telemarketer usually hangs up on the outgoing message and most automated caller systems seem to rely on some kind of specific trigger to activate--I don't know what exactly since some automated calls have been left on my machine while others apparently aren't (I get a number of "blank" messages--they trigger the answer mechanism enough to register as a message, but there's no actual message). Also, if your phone number is close to a target's number (or has been deliberately left as a fake number), the "Do Not Call" register won't apply. In that case, you simply have to call the number left by the telemarketer and inform them of the mistaken identity and that any future calls will result in their being reported as a harasser--the phone company's are pretty good about putting an end to harassing calls. I've had more than a few calls like this, where the "agent" is trying to contact someone other than me--and completely unknown to me--at the phone number I've had for 7 years, and when I return the call and tell them I'm not who they're looking for--without giving my own name--I usually receive an apology and have my number stricken from their list. In one case, I was told this particular company only called numbers that had been left through a service--like those "we're looking for people blah-blah-blah" ads where ten different companies all leave the same 800 or 888 number.

I realize that BamaRainbow's posting is quite old, but I had to comment on the errors in this. Bama's legal advice is not good in this instance. In my city, it is illegal to even knock on someone's door if they have a "No Solicitors" sign prominently posted. There are allowances, such as non-profit organizations (Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, etc), and political candidates. I can open the door to those people, but if a commercial vendor comes to my door, I can and will call the police and the police will respond. I do not need to tell the vendor to go away first (the sign has already told them that). In fact, our city encourages homeowners to call the police in such cases. There are some commercial vendors that try to skirt the law by claiming that they are NOT selling anything. They want to "give" free estimates or they want to "partner up" with houses in the neighborhood. These fake-outs won't work. Even if you are not trying to sell me something right at my door, if your ultimate goal is to eventually ask me to give you money, you are a door-to-door salesperson. So if you come to my door, I won't get angry with you; I'll simply call the police and you will be arrested or at the very least fined. Now, a vendor could just walk away before the police come, but my advice would be to stay and wait for them and deal with the issue. If you move on to the next house, the police may pull into their driveway just as you are in the middle of making a sale. Even if you walk away, the police will follow you down the street and stop you wherever you are. Best advice: before you go selling door to door (or giving free estimates or partnering with homeowners), check the laws of the city where you are operating. Most of these laws are easily accessible online. But if you see a "No Solicitors" sign, don't knock.